Bering system
The Bering system in the Independent Worlds is rocky and barren. Housing Freeport 2 of the Zoners and the Unioners' Pacifica Base, Bering and its single snaking Trade Lane sit athwart the Liberty/Rheinland border. Planets None Bases Freeport 2 Built out of the old framework of an abandoned Republican Shipping outpost, Freeport 2 was founded in 650 A.S. by displaced Texas settlers, Hamburg drifters, and a variety of other individuals looking for a safe haven. They aligned themselves with the Zoner movement and its open-to-all philosophy, then purchased a series of Synth Foods biodomes for Food production. The exploding demand for Food from the adjacent Texas System and from local criminal elements has provided them with a steady market for their surplus. Aside from the Zoners, Xenos and Unioners also frequent the station. Pacifica Base The history of the Unioners is intimately tied to Alster. The shipyard opened in 412 AS, specializing in commercial transports and heavy lifters. Conditions were appalling in the yards, worker safety being merely a tertiary concern to the owners. Coupled with the excessively long spaceside rotations, the workers' morale gradually deteriorated until a major accident killed several hundred workers in 512 AS. Three months later, the workers formed the Alster Union. Because of their highly specialized skills, the management had no choice but to capitulate to their demands. During the next century the union gradually strengthened and eventually included the dockworkers on the Altona Station above Hamburg. By the end of the 80-Years War, the union demanded increasingly high wages and progressively fewer annual hours. The system was out of balance. Republican was no longer competitive with Kusari shipbuilders. With the war over, demand for ships plummeted. The bloated headcount of Alster was now a sore point for Republican Shipping, desperately trying to restore profitability. Management was now back in the driver's seat after almost 200 years of acceding to union demands. They fired tens of thousands and won major concessions from the remaining workers, who lost centuries of gains in a matter of days. As unemployment rocketed towards 30 percent in Hamburg, a radicalized version of the union reformed -- more of a revolutionary cell than anything. The presence of Freeport 2 in Bering proved alluring to the nascent Unioner movement of Rheinland during the unsettled times. Following the popular uprising of 702, the station's population exploded. In 720 the Zoners laid down the ultimatum: Take your criminal activities somewhere else. They would sell basic supplies to the rebels, but no more. So the Unioners carved their Pacifica base out of an asteroid in the Tanner Belt. The Unioners range from Bering to New Berlin. Most of their attacks are focussed on the Altona Outpost and Alster Shipyard in Hamburg, which has alienated them from some of their still employed brethren. The bulk of their Trade Lane raids are directed against Republican ships traversing the Independent Worlds. Their main commodity is Diamonds, which they run from Kreuzberg to Dawson. Unioners are often spotted buying supplies on Freeport 2. Player notes: From their home base at Pacifica, the Unioners mount attacks against Republican ships traversing the Independent Worlds. They also frequently visit the local Zoners base Freeport 2 to purchase supplies. Jump Gates/Holes *Gates **Texas **Hamburg *Holes **Hudson (C4) **Hamburg (D6) Wrecks Lonestar (C6, center-right) Remnants of a Xeno fighter. It was probably destroyed by the Unioners, who have no use for Xeno weapons. *Contains: **2x Adv. Tarantula Fields Tanner Asteroid Belt The Tanner Belt entirely engulfs the Bering system. Despite intensive surveys by both Liberty and Rheinland mining corporations, no mineral deposits of economic value have ever been discovered within the barren rock asteroids of the vast field. Unioners and Xenos have been spotted within the system on a regular basis. Category:Systems Category:Independent Worlds